"OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL." / Disney Enterprises Inc.

Almost everyone is familiar with the classic story about Dorothy, a 16-year-old girl from Kansas, who follows the yellow brick road to see the Wizard of Oz, along with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. Now Disney Pictures is retelling the tale from the viewpoint of the man behind the curtain, Oz. The movie is a "prequel" to the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz," which is the most-watched motion picture in history, according to the Library of Congress, and is often ranked among the "Top 10 Best Movies of All Time" in popular polls.

"Oz: The Great and Powerful," directed by Sam Raimi, opened in theaters today. A few months ago, the film director held a press conference at Comic Con to show the trailer from the fantasy film and create a buzz on what promises to be an epic production.

"We all love the classic movie and were careful to respect it, but ours is really a different story,” Raimi said. “It’s a story that leads up to ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ It’s a story of how the wizard came from Kansas to the Land of Oz, and how he became the wizard. I wish we could have used the Emerald City from the original ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ but we didn’t legally have the right to do that, or use the ruby red slippers, or a lot of other iconic elements from the 1939 film. But, that turned out to be okay because we really were trying to tell our own story.”

The movie is about Oscar Diggs (played by James Franco,) a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, who is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz. Oscar thinks he’s hit the jackpot with fame and fortune. He meets three witches, Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, who are not convinced he is the great wizard that everyone’s been expecting. Oscar is reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz. He must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity, and even a bit of wizardry, Oscar transforms himself into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz.

"This is a very straight-forward family picture," Raimi said. "It’s a classic Disney movie. It's about these characters and their interactions with each other, friendships they make, how some of them are sinners, how they hurt others and how those sins can grow. It’s about finally recognizing that the things you do in this world have consequences, and how to be the best person you can be. That’s the message of this film."

To learn more about "Oz: The Great and Powerful,” visit disney.go.com/thewizard.